What exactly is considered a legal barrier regarding conjugal partners?

[Kelsey369]

Hello,

My girlfriend and met online and have been together now since 2015. I live in Alberta and she lives in Texas. Our understanding has always been that the only way we could live together is if one of us could support the other as neither of us can afford to be out of work for long periods of time. Because of this, we’ve been visiting when we can but we’re looking to take the next step in our relationship. We do plan to get married but we’re wondering; is there any way we could classify as conjugal partners due to our lack of finances and the fact that in her country, gay marriage is only legal on selected states? Neither one of us are eligible for skilled work visas so we’re just not sure if we can apply for conjugal or if we have to wait until we’re married, then submit a spouse visa even though we still wouldn’t have lived together yet?

Thanks in advance, I’ve been researching visas for like, 6 months now trying to figure out what our best route is and I’m still so lost and overwhelmed.

 

[Qwertypod]

Hello,

My girlfriend and met online and have been together now since 2015. I live in Alberta and she lives in Texas. Our understanding has always been that the only way we could live together is if one of us could support the other as neither of us can afford to be out of work for long periods of time. Because of this, we’ve been visiting when we can but we’re looking to take the next step in our relationship. We do plan to get married but we’re wondering; is there any way we could classify as conjugal partners due to our lack of finances and the fact that in her country, gay marriage is only legal on selected states? Neither one of us are eligible for skilled work visas so we’re just not sure if we can apply for conjugal or if we have to wait until we’re married, then submit a spouse visa even though we still wouldn’t have lived together yet?

Thanks in advance, I’ve been researching visas for like, 6 months now trying to figure out what our best route is and I’m still so lost and overwhelmed.

When applying as conjugal spouses, you need to demonstrate that there exists a significant barrier preventing you from being able to live together. These barriers can include immigration barriers, religious reasons and sexual orientation.

In your situation, there is nothing stopping you from living together or getting married. They do not consider financial hardship as a barrier.

 

[kcward7]

Hello,

My girlfriend and met online and have been together now since 2015. I live in Alberta and she lives in Texas. Our understanding has always been that the only way we could live together is if one of us could support the other as neither of us can afford to be out of work for long periods of time. Because of this, we’ve been visiting when we can but we’re looking to take the next step in our relationship. We do plan to get married but we’re wondering; is there any way we could classify as conjugal partners due to our lack of finances and the fact that in her country, gay marriage is only legal on selected states? Neither one of us are eligible for skilled work visas so we’re just not sure if we can apply for conjugal or if we have to wait until we’re married, then submit a spouse visa even though we still wouldn’t have lived together yet?

Thanks in advance, I’ve been researching visas for like, 6 months now trying to figure out what our best route is and I’m still so lost and overwhelmed.

No way you would qualify. You'll have to either qualify as common law or marry.

 

[Qwertypod]

Your best bet would be common law. You have to live together for 1 continuous year minimum before you can apply.

 

[21Goose]

If you can't live together for a year, then you need to get married, and apply for spousal sponsorship. Your situation is unlikely to qualify for conjugal partnership, since you can easily get married.

 

[Kelsey369]

When applying as conjugal spouses, you need to demonstrate that there exists a significant barrier preventing you from being able to live together. These barriers can include immigration barriers, religious reasons and sexual orientation.

In your situation, there is nothing stopping you from living together or getting married. They do not consider financial hardship as a barrier.

That’s what I figured but I wanted to make sure I was looking at every option. So since neither of us qualify for skilled worker visas or anything like that, how could we go about living together? Is the only way for one of us to be able to financially support us both? I’m really confused as to how international couples manage to live together

 

[Kelsey369]

If you can't live together for a year, then you need to get married, and apply for spousal sponsorship. Your situation is unlikely to qualify for conjugal partnership, since you can easily get married.

So then when we do get married, is it still okay that we wouldn’t have anything in both of our names yet? We would likely apply for the spouse visa and the open work permit but once again, due to financial reasons, she wouldn’t be able to come here until the work permit was approved so we wouldn’t have any bills/property in both our names until we were physically living with each other.

 

[kcward7]

That’s what I figured but I wanted to make sure I was looking at every option. So since neither of us qualify for skilled worker visas or anything like that, how could we go about living together? Is the only way for one of us to be able to financially support us both? I’m really confused as to how international couples manage to live together

If you were to do it in Canada - US citizens are visa exempt. That means they can enter Canada as a visitor for 6 months. Once that 6 months is up you apply to extend the stay in order to meet common law. You cannot work as a visitor. If this is a problem it would be likely better for you to marry and apply as married. If you did so you would either apply outland from the US and your partner could continue to work or what not, or you apply inland from inside Canada and apply for an open work permit (which takes about 3-5 months to receive).

 

[21Goose]

That’s what I figured but I wanted to make sure I was looking at every option. So since neither of us qualify for skilled worker visas or anything like that, how could we go about living together? Is the only way for one of us to be able to financially support us both? I’m really confused as to how international couples manage to live together

What's stopping you from getting married? You can visit each other, just get married the next time you're together in Canada.

International couples do not live together without status. The most common cases are when people live together for a year in a different country, and then one of them comes to Canada. That qualifies under common-law.

Or, one spouse moves to Canada for work or school, and then sponsors the other.

 

[kcward7]

I am adding differences of inland vs outland here:

Apply inland - both sponsor and applicant must be inside Canada at the time of submission and during the processing of the application. There is an Open Work Permit application as part of this stream, as long as you have valid status when you apply. The OWP app can be sent alongside the inland spousal app (but not before). The OWP takes about 3-5 months to approve depending on processing times. While short & infrequent trips outside Canada are typically acceptable, if you’re denied entry at the border your application will be abandoned. Assuming you meet admissibility requirements you should have no issues, but CBSA hold a lot of discretion in this and retain the right to deny anyone entry. Any trip longer than 2-3 weeks may call into question the “inland” requirement if IRCC get wind of it (if they believe you’ve spent too much time outside of Canada. There is no appeal option if the application is denied. If you are out of status inside Canada you can still apply for inland spousal sponsorship. It is one of the unique parts of the inland app. That said, if you apply inland while out of status with the OWP, you won’t receive the OWP until AIP (approval in principle) which comes at the tail end of processing. Inland apps are consistently processed at the 11-12 month mark.

Apply Outland from outside Canada: you and your sponsor can be living together internationally or apart intentionally. If this is the case the sponsor MUST be a citizen. Only citizens can sponsor from outside Canada. If you are a PR sponsoring you must remain inside Canada. There is no work permit option. While the target processing time remains at 12 months (just like inland) Outland apps are typically processed faster. There is an appeal option if you are denied.

Apply Outland from inside Canada: you and your sponsor can apply Outland even while inside Canada. There is no major difference to apply Outland from outside Canada, however, if you go this route you must maintain legal status in Canada (such as visitor status).

 

[21Goose]

So then when we do get married, is it still okay that we wouldn’t have anything in both of our names yet? We would likely apply for the spouse visa and the open work permit but once again, due to financial reasons, she wouldn’t be able to come here until the work permit was approved so we wouldn’t have any bills/property in both our names until we were physically living with each other.

If you're married you don't need to prove that you lived together for a year. However, you will need to prove that your relationship is genuine (and not just a marriage to get her PR), and for that, they look at things like conversations between the two of you, pictures, email, trips together, letters from friends and family, etc.

Just think of how you can prove that the two of you have actually been dating since 2015.

 

[kcward7]

Nothing is really stopping us from getting married, we’ve both talked about it in length and we’re both wanting to but we figure her parents wouldn’t be too thrilled that we didn’t go about it “traditionally” as in living together then getting married so I was just wanting to see if there would be a way to appease them. She’s visiting in October though so we were thinking of getting married then. I guess I’m just worried that because we met online and her parents wouldn’t be accepting of it that somehow our visa could get denied. I know there’s no guarantee of a spouse visa being approved but I worry that with things like her parents and how we met that it’ll give them red flags.

If you can prove your relationship is genuine, these aren't really red flags, especially from the US, where immigration fraud wouldn't be as high. You've been in a relationship long enough and sounds like you've visited multiple times. Red flags in your case would be more like marrying the first time you meet, or never visiting each other, etc.

 

[21Goose]

Nothing is really stopping us from getting married, we’ve both talked about it in length and we’re both wanting to but we figure her parents wouldn’t be too thrilled that we didn’t go about it “traditionally” as in living together then getting married so I was just wanting to see if there would be a way to appease them. She’s visiting in October though so we were thinking of getting married then. I guess I’m just worried that because we met online and her parents wouldn’t be accepting of it that somehow our visa could get denied. I know there’s no guarantee of a spouse visa being approved but I worry that with things like her parents and how we met that it’ll give them red flags.

If you are in a genuine relationship (and you can prove that), and you are legally married (get married in Canada), her parents' opinion does not matter.

The only things that matter are

1. Are you eligible to be a sponsor
2. Are you in a genuine relationship
3. Are you legally married
4. Is she eligible to enter Canada (no criminal history etc)

If the answer to all four questions is "Yes", then you shouldn't have an issue.

Read about the sponsorship process here - https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-5289-sponsor-your-spouse-common-law-partner-conjugal-partner-dependent-child-complete-guide.html

 

[Kelsey369]

If you're married you don't need to prove that you lived together for a year. However, you will need to prove that your relationship is genuine (and not just a marriage to get her PR), and for that, they look at things like conversations between the two of you, pictures, email, trips together, letters from friends and family, etc.

Just think of how you can prove that the two of you have actually been dating since 2015.

So if we get married and we provide phone logs, conversations, pictures of us together, activities we’ve done together, and letters from friends and family confirming our relationship (I think I saw they aren’t needed but I figure it would help), that should be enough evidence that our relationship is genuine even though we have no joint accounts/property yet?

 

[21Goose]

So if we get married and we provide phone logs, conversations, pictures of us together, activities we’ve done together, and letters from friends and family confirming our relationship (I think I saw they aren’t needed but I figure it would help), that should be enough evidence that our relationship is genuine even though we have no joint accounts/property yet?

Yes.